I’m sorry.

You deserved better than for me to disappear without a word. I did not intend to ghost you, but that is what I did. I understand if you have moved on. There’s no sense in awaiting new content when it has not come in almost three months.

You deserve an explanation, at least. The short story is life happened. I reeled under circumstances that ranged from catastrophically inconvenient to familially devastating. Already struggling from the longest writer’s block I encountered, I could not write a single word.

silence

a pillow over

my head

Summer began with a water leak. We didn’t know that a valve connected to the water line of our refrigerator had cracked until pieces of our family room ceiling eroded and fell on a completely saturated area of carpeting. As we cleaned up the mess—and our plumber diagnosed the problem—I filed a homeowner’s claim.

During the water mitigation, my sub-contractor found asbestos. All drying operation ceased, as we scrambled to secure an abatement company to inspect and remove all of the asbestos in the rooms most affected by the water mitigation work.

The work began before Mira and I flew to Portugal. It finished the day after Labor Day—the first Monday in September!

bare beams

shadows spread along

concrete

If the water leak wasn’t enough, the familial crisis was. I can’t disclose details, but we reeled from the situation. Only a commitment to a new, integrative practice of tai-chi/yoga sustained us as we struggled through the impact.

Therefore, I did not write. But as all things pass, so does my silence. Our family room and office remain unfinished, but Insurance-sponsored contractors may begin as early as this week. Our personal property can be cleaned and then returned to us once the rooms are ready. By mid-October, our repair may finally be done. As for the familial crisis, we’ve passed through the worst of it. While other worries remain, we can get through them.

I intend to write again. I can’t promise that I will faithfully deliver daily, as I have in the past. But I will write, and I will work on consistently publishing with some regularity. If you have stuck around this long, thank you! Please remain patient as I resume my first steps along the poetry way. It will be worth it.

in the dust

along the unwalked path

fresh footprints